Happiness Is The Absence Of Fear?

Eduardo Punset is one of the most widely read and loved thinkers in today’s world. He left us a great legacy of wisdom. Today we are going to refer to one of his most revealing and interesting statements. It refers to that postulate that indicates that happiness is the absence of fear. To which he added that “beauty is the absence of pain.”

Punset reflected on many of the realities of the world today. Among them, that question about happiness that assails so many people in the world. Happiness is a very popular word, but it is also very difficult to define. That is perhaps the first difficulty we encounter in going after her: we do not know what it is about.

Some seek it in success or power; others persecute her through great loves and affectionate affections; and there are also those who have given it up because they are tired of being disappointed in looking for it and not finding it. When Eduardo Punset tells us that happiness is the absence of fear, he places us in another perspective that is much more realistic and profound. Let’s see why.

Happiness is inside

Surely we have all come across someone who is satisfied and satisfied with what he is and what he has, even if he has gone through great sufferings or deficiencies and does not have what is usually called “a successful life.” It is also very likely that we have met someone contrary: a person with success, power, assets and loved ones who, however, is not happy.

As much as on many fronts it is insisted that happiness is within, we tend to forget that truth too often. We tend to do the opposite, that is, look for something external because we assume that, by achieving it, we will find bliss.

That external something can be a love, a goal or a certain state of things. This is how we are subject to a factor over which we often have little control. And we also discover, when we achieve it, that it offers us a happiness not as complete as we imagined.

When Punset tells us that happiness is the absence of fear, he also points out two things: one, that happiness is within each one of us. And two, that it is not about having or achieving something, but rather about stripping ourselves of an emotion that oppresses us .

The absence of fear

Punset speaks of the absence of fear in a relative sense. Feeling fear is not only normal, but also healthy. It is the emotion that allows us to notice risks and dangers, giving us the opportunity to prepare for them. However, in that purpose of self-protection we sometimes go too far.

This occurs when we give the meaning of risk or danger to something that, in reality, does not constitute a threat to us. Why is this happening? It is generally due to the effects of an education that has led us to believe, although it can also be the consequence of some psychological conflict that we have not resolved.

Be that as it may, many times we carry an accumulation of imaginary fears that oppress us and do not let us be happy. We may even end up fearing happiness and running away from it. Out of fear, we put unnecessary restrictions on ourselves, we reject positive experiences or we end up doing harm.

Eradicate fear

Punset is quite right when he relates happiness with the absence of fear. Freeing ourselves from these imaginary fears allows us to experience life in a freer way. It also makes it possible for us to express our being in all its fullness, overcoming those rigid limits in which we voluntarily confine ourselves for fear of going further.

Eduardo Punset says that if someone wants to be happy, they must first reflect on their fears. What are we afraid of? Why are we afraid of that? They are simple questions that, if you place yourself in a position of honesty with yourself, often offer surprising answers. Sometimes they even lead you to realize that there are fears that you are not interested in facing.

The absence of fear brings inner peace. You stop deciding your life based on imaginary dangers and substitute fear for confidence. You also experience a feeling of lightness that helps you flow in all situations. How to leave behind those daily fears that do not let us fly? That will be the subject of another article.